Introduction
Cartels are agreements amongst market competitors which have
significant adverse effect on competition. But without effective
sanctions, it becomes very difficult to detect the existence of
cartels as they are concerted actions and work in secrecy. The
colluders might get an impression in the absence of strict
penalties that the benefits associated with the cartelization
outweigh the associated risks of penalties.
This is where the Leniency Regulations i.e. Competition
Commission of India (Lesser Penalty) Regulations, 2009 under the
Competition Act, 2002 came into play. The Competition Act, 2002
(hereinafter referred as the "Act"),
which replaced the erstwhile Monopolies and Restrictive Trade
Practices Act (under which the commission could only pass cease and
desist orders), has given the Competition Commission of India
("CCI") the freedom to decide upon
lesser penalties in case of disclosure of existence of cartel by a
member under Section 46 of the
